Sunday, August 07, 2011

Since the 1950s, the trend in American society seems to be moving more and more toward selfish, short term pleasure and enjoyment and more away from being concerned with long term consequences, the welfare of others and the afterlife.

Pornography became somewhat socially acceptable with the publication of Playboy magazine in December, 1953. Marilyn Monroe, the first Playboy model, and Elvis Presley, known for his suggestive movements, became superstars in the mid-1950's.

About 1970, it became socially acceptable for women to have sex before marriage. Abortion was legalized in 1973. Divorce also became much easier legally at that time and divorce became commonplace rather than a rarity. Young people commonly smoked marijuana by about 1970. Also, at about that time, sodomy became legalized in many states. In the 1970's, the term "serial killer" was coined, generally referring to people who kill many strangers for pleasure. Child abduction and murder began becoming a national problem in 1981.

Beginning slowing in the 1950's, gathering speed in the 60's and really taking off in the 70's, self indulgence and pleasure seeking has become more and more "cool", smart and fashionable. What is this leading to ultimately? What would the ultimate in hedonism look like? How cool can we actually get?

I can imagine society eventually allowing the opening of what I would call Total Pleasure Centers. These centers would allow Godless hedonists to indulge themselves at no cost to society and to then disappear, without endlessly filling up prisons, rehab centers, hospitals, homeless shelters, etc. Just do it and get it over with.

The Total Pleasure Centers, which would be heavily advertised in the most attractive terms, would work simply like this:

The client must be 18 or older and have at least $10,000.

If the client has custody of children, that custody must be completely surrendered and the children made available for adoption.

The client will surrender all his money and assets to the Total Pleasure Center when arriving.

He will be stripped naked, shaved and placed in a cell.

The cell will include a very comfortable recliner and a large screen computer monitor and desk with a mouse and keyboard. The monitor will also be attached to cable television. There will be a funnel attached to a tube to collect urine.

The client will have an IV line inserted, which will deliver nutrition.

The client will be groomed by aides (sponge baths; hair will be shaved periodically; he will be turned every two hours if need be to avoid bed sores) and nurses will make sure that the IV line remains open and uninfected. The urine collection bag will be changed daily as well.

The client will have a hand held device which will control the delivery of either heroin or cocaine through his IV line. The client will also have access to, but outside easy reach, a button which will administer a dose sodium thiopental, causing death.

The client’s account will be debited based on the cost of his basic care, the drugs he uses and the websites and cable programs he accesses if they require payment. The client will never be allowed to leave his cell. If necessary, he will be restrained to his chair.

Finally when the client’s account approaches zero, the IV will automatically administer a dose sodium thiopental, causing death. The client will them be cremated and his ashes disposed of in a refuse bin.

It was extremely rare compared to today. "Jack the Ripper" killed five prostitutes and was an international sensation in the 1888.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_the_Ripper

"How such bondage fits in with the title "Total Pleasure Center" is beyond me."

That would have to be the deal - if you go there, you stay there. We won't want to bother dealing with a half-dead addict back out on the street. Of course, advertising would not emphasize that detail. And in fact probably very few people, being high out of their minds, would every imagine leaving.

I would agree that the emphasis on self-indulgence and the pursuit of personal goals has increased markedly in the last generations. However, it is a mixed bag. I think your error here is lumping together things that are unrelated. For example, the "serial killers" as we know them now, were indeed rarer in the past. However, other massively violent acts were common in the past-- things which we would now call "war criminals". As you know from biblical history, and through the middle ages, it was not uncommon, in the course of tribal wars, for armies to enter villages and slaughter all of the inhabitants. Not only was this common, it was expected behavior!!

A few years ago there was a movie called "Idiocracy". Kind of a stupid movie, but with a true cautionary tale. Since intelligence in humans is no longer important for natural selection, we seem to be breeding ourselves into stupidity and slovenliness. The most intelligent and educated in Western societies have the fewest children.

Because of better forensics, fewer people are killing friends and relatives. But killing strangers for fun seems to be on the rise. Who ever worried about child abduction or school shooting when I was a kid?

..."If the client has custody of children, that custody must be completely surrendered and the children made available for adoption. The client will surrender all his money and assets to the Total Pleasure Center when arriving. He will be stripped naked, shaved and placed in a cell..."

HaHaHa,,,,, snort>>> LOL>>> snort..You really have too much time on your hands. To have masterminded that corybantic delerium, you must have been studying kabbalah with out sleep for 48 hours and deprived yourself of a bathroom break. I hope your family reads today's blog, because this should be clear evidence that that your unhinged momentum is driving you over the edge. They seriously need to search your home for weapons, because its only a short matter of time before you listen to god and he tells you to kill someone.

JP - it would make for an interesting discussion if true, but you don't have any solid stats to back that up. The website you linked was a private one that anyone can create, not an official source.

I don't know how old you are, but I certainly heard about child abductions and murders in my city when I was growing up. Locally, the rate of stranger abduction/murders seems to be down considerably. The difference, though, was that I didn't that much about those that happened in the US, because we only watched local news and didn't have CNN.

Last February, we went to New York with the kids, walking around the city and even taking the subway after dark. 20 years ago, that would have been substantially more dangerous.

BTW, the rest of your scenario is vaguely similar to Brave New World - but it's also somewhat disturbing to realize that you are clearly spending your time thinking up these detailed scenarios. Is there some chesed community that can use some help?

You must find it delightful quoting yourself. This is not what god had intended as a surrogate for masturbation. Regardless of how sexualy auto-erotic it might appeal to torah fundamentalists like yourself, its just bad journalistic articulation. Next time you get the urge to quote yourself, you might try taking a cold shower.

Rather than getting over-dramatic using cases like Aron Levi, I suggest that you can use recent riots in England as evidence supporting your thesis.

As an atheist, I must admit that the decay in English society (which is relatively highly atheist) is a good example of what happens when communities lose their moral compass. They become confused, adopting pseudo-moral ideas from radical left liberalism (like multiculturalism, politically correct antisemitism and romanticising Islam), and lose confidence in their own cultural roots.

The leftist British press, of course, blames the violence on government policies, police discrimination, economic problems, etc. They deny that their own liberalism is at fault. This is of course a fallacy because the problems they cite are problems that exist everywhere.

The root of the problem appears to be poor parenting, poor schooling and moral decay. I tend to subscribe to the idea that a society's attitude about Israel and Jews is an indicator of their moral aptitude. We're kind of like the canary in the mine. Polite British society is antisemitic and anti-Israel, and in my mind this reflects a twisted and distorted morality.

When you think about it, its really amazing. You have this country, the UK, with a rich history of liberalism, tolerance, democracy, and victimization at the hands of crazies like the Nazis. So, one would guess that they would naturally identify with a modern, democratic, and liberal Israel which arose from the ashes of the holocaust. But rather, inexplicably, they identify with and romanticise Arab and Islamic theocracies and dictatorships, whose corrupt societies advocate beheadings, honor killings, polygomy, child marriage and wife beating.

This seems to be a means of pretending to be humanitarian while being very selfish in ones own personal life. John Lennon wanted to bring world peace while he treated his own first wife and first child very badly.

Interesting synopsis of liberal politics. Its seems to be true in many places, including Israel. Although I think that Republican conservatives are often hypocrites themselves (like the tea-party conservatives who are idiots), usually the leftists are the champion hypocrites, the not-in-my-back-yard liberals.

"Is every action ever undertaken by the State of Israel regarding Palestinians morally justified?"

I'm actually anti-Zionist. But I'm also anti-Muslim.

"How do you characterize yourself?"

Independent. I would have no problem legalizing prostitution and marijuana. Child brides are ok too with parental consent. I think sodomy should be a death penalty. Personally, I'm very in favor of gun control. I think it's insane to allow people to buy any explosives, including gun ammunition, unless they clearly need it for their profession. If you want to hunt, use a bow. If anyone can buy ammunition, why not grenades and land mines?

With your raling against pornography, how can you advocate legalizing prostitution? Isn't prostitution against the Torah, like sodomy?

I find your whole thing about pornography somewhat overblown. (pardon the pun). Granted, its not exactly the most wholesome or productive (again pardon the pun)activity. On the other hand, the alternatives of real fornication and adultery are far more dangerous or harmful. Pornography is "safe", in that its not endangering himself or others. And pornography is relative. Before the internet, adolescent boys shpiched over Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition and posters of Farah Fawcett. We always found something to fantacize about.

"I'm actually anti-Zionist."

I think that there are levels of that, too. One can honestly feel that the formation of Israel was a mistake, or that theologically it is not permitted. However, that is different from the "anti-zionism" of the British and Muslims, for which it is just thinly veiled anti-semitism.

How can you tell? Because, given the reality that the State of Israel exists, and that there are Israelis who live there, and you deny those people the right to self defense, and blame all of the Arab world's problems on Jewish control of the world-- well-- that is the protocol of the elders of Zion-- classic antisemitism.

So my answer to anonymous comment is No-Yes-yes -yes -yes.

I think Dershowitz's DDD criteria work quite will to distinguish legitimite criticism from antisemitism-- deligitimization, demonization and double standard.

Researchers generally agree that Bundy's sudden condemnation of pornography was one last manipulative attempt to forestall his execution by catering to Dobson's agenda as a longtime anti-pornography advocate, telling him precisely what he wanted to hear.[247] Bundy had told Michaud and Aynsworth in 1980, and Hagmaier the night before he spoke to Dobson, that pornography played a negligible role in his development as a serial killer.[248]

For some reason I came across your blog, and I've read some of your blog posts. The only one you remind me of is Anders Breivik, the man who killed 77 people in my country (Norway) July 22nd. He wrote a manifesto describing many similar ideas to yours. I am saddened there apparently are many of you out there. :(

About Me

I am an Orthodox Jew and I live in Rockland County, NY.
I was raised as a non-practicing Lutheran by my adopted parents and I converted to Judaism at age 16.
This blog as a rule follows the teachings of the Lithuanian rabbinical seminaries of the 1920s and 1930s. Specifically, I have been very influenced by the recordings and writings of Rabbi Avigdor Miller obm.
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